


Shipping Wars

by tbehartoo



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, I hope, It's all about shipping!, No one gets hurt, There's so much shipping, Well not seriously hurt, even Hawkmoth, so many characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:25:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7794556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbehartoo/pseuds/tbehartoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alya's shipper heart</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Best of Ships, The Worst of Ships

Marinette sat in the cafe waiting for the others to arrive. Soon two of the three expected people came into view. Nino and Alya were having some kind of lively discussion, and for once Nino seemed to be coming out on top of the conversation.

Alya plonked down next to Marinette. “Mari, will you please tell this... this... this HEATHEN that he is totally wrong and that there is nothing in this universe that would ever get me to agree with him on this point?”

Mari giggled. “Ok.” She turned to the boy that had just joined them at the table. “Nino you are totally wrong and Alya will never agree with you about this. Whatever it may be.”

“See! I told you she’d agree.”

“She doesn’t even know what she’s agreeing to,” Nino pointed out with a smirk.

“But she does agree, and THAT’S what matters!” Alya stated firmly.

Nino looked at Mari as she sipped her drink. 

“So, you’d totally be cool with dating Chat Noir over Adrien Agreste?” he asked waggling his eyebrows.

Mari choked on her drink. Some of it may have even found its way out through her nose.

“Nino!” Alya chidded. “You did that on purpose!”

He was laughing too hard to make a reply. 

Once Mari had cleaned up the mess and Nino had settled down to a few remaining chuckles Alya started in again.

“You owe her an apology,” she said with a scowl.

“I do,” he agreed. “I’m sorry for trying to kill you with a well aimed spit take, Mari.”

“And a new cup of coffee,” she added.

“Yes, of course,” he said as he stood.

“And you can pay for mine as well for all the aggravation you’ve caused this morning.”

“What?” he looked at her incredulously.

She merely raised an eyebrow in his direction.

He grinned and went to get their orders.

“I swear that boy is going to give me high blood pressure before I’m twenty,” Alya said to Mari.

“Only if your daily double espressos don’t do it first,” Mari replied.

Alya grinned at her friend. “A girl’s gotta have her one guilty pleasure,” she stated. “Speaking of which,” she looked at Mari’s red face, “Would you rather date Adrien or Chat Noir?”

Mari froze. What had she just asked her? Why had she asked her that? What should she say? Stall!

“What makes you ask that?” Mari said slowly.

“It was something that Nino said on the way over here,” Alya shrugged a shoulder. “I was talking about how Ladybug and Chat Noir were perfect for each other when Nino asked if I had to date someone I knew or one of Paris’ heroes, which would I pick?”

“And what did you say?” Mari asked fascinated despite the possibility that she was about to find out that Alya’s love for Ladybug might be more than just fan girl level.

“I looked straight at Nino and told him that I’d rather be with my dorky boyfriend who asks me crazy questions like that, than to date either of those two.”

Marinette grinned. “So you two are officially together?” she asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from her and Adrien or Chat.

“Yup,” she said as she grinned up at Nino bringing their drinks. “But if he keeps insisting that You’d be better off with Adrien than Chat then I might just have to reconsider.”

“Aw, don’t be that way,” Nino said. “I merely pointed out that at least Mari actually knows Adrien, and knows that he’s a great guy and except for that one time Chat saved her, she’s never even met him.”

Nino missed seeing Mari duck her head when he said that. 

“What if he’s really just some perv that likes running around in a leather suit? Would you really want that for our precious Marinette?”

“Who’s a perv after our Mari?” a voice asked. 

Looking up Mari saw Adrien coming to their table. Just great! As if this wasn’t getting uncomfortable as it was.

“No one,” Alya said as she shot a look with daggers in it at Nino. “There’s no way that Ladybug would ever associate with that kind of a brute.”

Adrien looked puzzled. Nino rolled his eyes and groaned.

“He’s too kind and funny to be anything but perfect for Mari,” she continued, “and I’m sure if we could ask her, Ladybug would agree.” She looked round the table, then nudged Mari with an elbow. “Besides he’s pretty cute, don’t you think?”

Mari’s face was bright red with embarrassment. Adrien looked between the three sitting at the table with some confusion.

“So we’re asking Ladybug if a cute and kind of funny guy is a perv out to get Mari?” he asked. 

“NO!” said Alya a little more loudly than Mari appreciated, drawing a few stares from neighboring tables. “We’re asking Ladybug if Chat Noir would be the perfect knight in shining armor for our princess Marinette!”

Adrien’s eyes seemed to widen considerably. He sat down quickly. “And why are we asking her this? Wouldn’t she want Chat for herself?” he asked knowing full well that Chat would most definitely want his magnificent Lady.

“That’s beside the point,” Alya said. "Marinette gets to choose between,” she caught herself in time from completely embarrassing Mari in front of her not so secret crush, “either someone she knows in real life or Chat Noir.” She looked at Nino as she continued, “And there can be no doubt in any SANE person’s mind that Chat Noir should be the winner hands down.”

Mari was hunched down in her chair hiding her face in her hands, just wishing for an akuma attack so she could get out of this embarrassing conversation.

“What about you?” Alya asked Adrien. “If you had to choose between, say...Mari or Ladybug who would you choose?” She grinned wolfishly at the blonde boy. If he’d just say Mari maybe those two could finally stop being so shy around each other.

Nino laughed, knowing the growing crush that Adrien had on the little black haired girl sitting next to his girlfriend. 

“Oh I know who he’d choose!” his grin matched the one on Alya’s face. “He’d pick m…”

“M’LADYBUG!,” Adrien said over Nino. Giving his friend a look pleading with him not to blab his feelings in front of the girl sitting across from him.

“Oh no you didn’t!” Alya scowled at Adrien.

“Didn’t what?” Adrien asked confused.

“Oh boy,” Nino said. He put one hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “It was nice knowing you man.”

“You did not just say that you’d prefer Ladybug over my precious Mari,” she began. “First off, Mari is the nicest person you will ever meet, so you did not just say that you’d rather be with that yo-yo slinging superhero over my sweet friend.”

Mari didn’t think she could get any redder in the face, but it seemed she was trying.

“Secondly, we all know that Chat Noir is so totally into Ladybug that you would only last about three seconds after he finds out you’re making a move on his girl.”

Adrien agreed with Alya, just let some little punk try to take his bug from him. He’d rip them to shreds, wait...that’s himself he’s talking about.

“Thirdly, Ladybug deserves the best of the best and MOST of us at this table,” once again she looked at Nino, “can recognize that that would be Chat Noir.”

“Come on Alya,” Nino said. “If Adrien wants to be with Ladybug there’s no need to crush his dreams like that.” He looked at Adrien. “A guy has to have his dream girl,” he said with a smirk.

Adrien blushed. Dreamgirls may, or may not, have been a subject of conversation between the two of them in the near past. Marinette looked up interested at this turn of events. It seemed she wasn’t the only one that was going to die of mortification today after all.

“How dare you break Chat’s heart by shipping Ladybug with another man?” Alya rounded on Nino.

“Well,” said Nino casting about for any kind of life line. He looked at both Adrien and Mari, but realized he wasn’t going to get any help from those sources. “That would free up Chat to go to Mari for consolation and she could then have the Cat and Adrien would have the Bug!” He gave Alya a big grin.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said,”No” Nino.”

“But it’s a perfect plan,” he said.

“No it’s not, for reasons I can’t go into at the present time,” Alya said. “You were wrong this morning about Adrien and Mari and you’re now wrong about this.”

Adrien looked at the two of them arguing and then over at Mari. “I’m, um, just going to go get something to drink,” he said quietly. 

Mari nodded, but didn’t look up.

“W-w-would you like to come with me?” he asked uncertainly.

“Anything to get away from this,” she said.

“Do you think it’s too early for wine?” he asked as they walked away, “because they could use some to go with all that cheese”

Mari smiled as she groaned a bit. With either Adrien or Chat the future was sure to be punny.


	2. Class Warfare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Marinette discussing possible ships for...Ladybug

“So,” Alya sat down on Marinette’s chaise lounge, “if Chat Noir and Ladybug weren’t together...”

“Alya!” Marinette protested, “Nothing says they are together!”

“Who in our class do you think would end up dating Ladybug?” she continued as if she hadn't heard Marinette’s interruption. They were getting together to “study”, but since it was Friday night it really meant having fun and if homework got done? Bonus.

“What?” Marinette’s face turned red and her eyes opened wide. “What kind of a question is that to ask?” She picked up her box of nail polish and started rummaging through it, but Alya grabbed the container to get Mari’s focus back on the task at hand.

“It's just something I was thinking about today,” Alya said with a shrug of her shoulders. She picked a color for herself then handed the rest back.  “Wouldn't it be amazing if someone we know was with Ladybug?” She gave a little sigh. “If it was one of our friends then maybe we could hang out with her. Wouldn't that just be so cool?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess that would be kind of awesome,” Marinette agreed. “What do you think she’d be doing right now if we were with her?” she asked trying to change the topic.

Inside she was struggling between being mortified that Alya would be setting up her alter ego with anyone they knew and being intrigued with who she thought would be a good match. Eventually the curiosity got to her.

“So who were you thinking of hooking her up with?” she tried to ask as casually as possible as she struggled to open the bottle. 

Alya took the polish from her and easily opened it. “I guess that would depend on knowing if she's only into guys or if girls are also on her preferred list,” Alya said thoughtfully distracted handing the bottle back. 

Marinette went very still, was there some reason Alya thought that? Had she done or said something as Ladybug to give that impression?

“Wh-wh-what makes you think she's into anyone at all?” she stammered. When Alya raised an eyebrow in her direction she continued, “I mean we don't even know if she actually like likes anyone that way. I know you think she likes Chat Noir,” Alya smirked and nodded her head, “but there isn't any real proof for that.” 

Alya continued to pointedly stare.

“Or what if she can only be attracted to someone that she knows really well and totally trusts?” Mari asked quietly. 

Alya thought for a moment. She grabbed the remover and some cotton balls as she thought. “Okay, for the purposes of this experiment we are going to assume that Ladybug knows everyone in the class really, really well. So that wouldn't be a problem.” She started taking off what remained of last week’s color. “Also, we're assuming that the people in class actually know her, so it's not like they are just using Ladybug to be famous, or infamous if you will.”

Marinette nodded in agreement. She doused a new cotton ball in the stinking liquid and started on her left hand. “That sounds ... good?” When Alya looked up she just smiled. “We wouldn’t want just anybody trying to score Ladybug as their girlfriend if they didn’t actually know her.”

“So, who do you think would be the perfect match for Ladybug,” Alya asked again with more enthusiasm, really getting into it. 

Marinette started to paint a stripe of pale pink onto her nails. “Well,” she appeared to be lost in intense concentration which didn’t fool Alya at all. They both knew whose name would come up.  

"If we’re finding someone that’s sweet, kind, thoughtful, and handsome then obviously it should be Adrien,” she said knowing that Ladybug would not object to that suggestion in the least.

“No fair Mari!” Alya said, a scowl crossing her face, “Adrien is completely off the list. He’s my future brother-in-law, and I will not have him breaking Ladybug’s heart to be with you.” Marinette rolled her eyes while Alya continued, “I love you, so I’m saying this to you right now. I don’t even want you to say his name tonight. Choose again.”

Marinette thought carefully as she painted a few more nails then tentatively asked, “Um, is Nino off the list, too?”

Alya considered the suggestion as she waved her hand to dry the nails faster. “No, he can be on there. But why would you pair him and Ladybug?”

“Well...he’s nice to almost anyone, and a really good friend to Adri...to all of us,” she hurriedly corrected since the near mention of Adrien’s name had Alya giving her one of her patented don’t-even-think-about-saying-it looks. “He’s also got great taste in music, and he makes us laugh so that’s got to be a bonus. And he’s got a deep sense for what’s right and what’s wrong so Ladybug would totally be on board for that. And he’s not bad looking...”

She glanced over at her friend. Maybe mentioning all the good qualities of her best friend’s boyfriend wasn’t the best idea. Especially since they both knew that Nino had once had a bit of a crush on her.

“Who were you thinking about?” she hastily asked as she rushed to start painting her right hand. When Alya didn’t immediately begin talking she prompted her by saying, “You did say you had thought about this today. Right?”

“Right,” Alya gave herself a little shake then started going over her list with Marinette. “Well first I thought that Kim would probably be the best match for her of all the boys.”

Marinette almost choked but turned it into a small cough. She’d ruined the paint on that finger though. “What? Why him?” She had her head down totally focusing on fixing the nail and not at all interested in finding out why Kim would be her next best match, because Adrien was totally still at the top of her list.

“Well, if anyone is going to be able to keep up with her it would be Kim,” Alya said with a one shoulder shrug. She had finished covering her fingers in a rich red color and had started working on her toes. “He’s tall and athletic, and always up for a challenge.”

“But he can be so rude when he’s trying to get a competition going,” Mari protested.

“There is that,” Alya agreed. “And he can be a little hot-headed, too. We need to think about this more.”

Both girls painted in silence for a few moments.

“So, not Kim then,” Marinette said to break the growing tension.

“No, not Kim.” Alya capped the bottle and sat with her hands and feet carefully not touching anything.

“What about...Max?” Marinette offered tentatively. She had never actually considered if she’d want to go out with Max before.

“Well, he is really smart, so that’s something he and Ladybug have in common.”

“But Max is super smart! Like super duper smart. He really likes technology and,” Mari shuddered, “math. Like, Advanced Mathematics, not just regular math.” She groaned because while she used things like addition, multiplication, and division all the time, when the alphabet became involved she and math weren’t always on speaking terms. 

Alya patted Mari gingerly on the head. “Not everyone has a hate/hate relationship with math Marinette. I bet Ladybug is really good at it, and that would be a point in his favor.”

“No one really likes math Alya, and anyone that says they do is selling something!” Mari declared. 

Alya giggled while Marinette put the box of nail polish away while keeping out the clear coat. This was her favorite part of doing nails with Mari. She watched as Marinette pulled out her acrylic paints and her smallest brushes. Marinette gets to be creative and Alya ends up with some killer nail art. She put her right hand in Marinette’s waiting work area.

“Wait, what about...” Alya started laughing at her idea. “No, it’d never work.” 

Marinette paused in adding some white swirls to Alya’s thumb. “What about who? Come on Alya, spill!”

Alya had a big grin on her face, “What about Ivan?”

“Ivan and Ladybug?” Mari began to smile. “He’d probably get akumatized every time Ladybug had to battle because he wouldn’t want them picking on her. And then she’d have to fight him, too.”

They both laughed at the thought of big, tough Ivan trying to both protect and attack Ladybug.

“Nah, he really likes Mylene and they are just so cute together,” Mari said once their giggles had died down. She loaded one side of a tiny flat brush and proceeded to paint miniature white orchid petals to create tiny blossoms on each nail.

“I guess that means Mylene is also off the list,” Alya said, watching with rapt attention as a few white dots added emphasis to the swirls.

“Yes, I think she and Rose and Juleka are all off the list. I don’t think any of them would be totally happy with Ladybug over the people they care for right now.”

A few tiny dots of gold paint for the flower centers and a protective cover of clear varnish made the art on Alya’s nails pop.

“Well if we’re going to be considering girls to match up with Ladybug, then how about Alix?”

Marinette considered then nodded. “She’s strong and tough. And she never backs down from any of Kim’s challenges. She might make a good match for Ladybug.”

“And she’s self-confident just like the Lady,” Alya added. 

She watched as Marinette started to decorate her own nails with tiger stripes of black and neon green over the pale pink. There was silence as she worked.

“But Alix can hold a grudge,” Alya pointed out as if just spotting a problem. “How would that be for Ladybug to always be in trouble for having to cancel on her? She would permanently be in the doghouse.”

“Probably not the best choice for Paris’ hero then,” Mari agreed. When she got to the ring finger Mari made one large oval of black with four smaller ovals above it, then gave them green highlights. A nice nod toward Chat Noir that she hoped wasn’t too obvious.

Suddenly Mari’s face went pale as a thought struck her full force. She dropped her paint brush and looked at Alya with wide horror struck eyes.

“Oh no,” she moaned. “No, no, no, no! That would be disastrous.”

Alya looked her friend over. It was obvious that Mari was in real distress. “Mari, are you okay?”

There was no answer. Marinette sat rocking a little back and forth just staring at the far wall.

“Mari?” Alya was frowning. She waved a hand in front of her friend’s face, but there was no reaction. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng you talk to me right now!”

Marinette closed her eyes and whispered a single word, “Chloe.”

It took a few seconds for Alya to process what Marinette had said but when she did she burst out laughing. Great, bone shaking belly laughs burst out of the girl. Marinette stared at her friend in horror and growing resentment, Alya was almost rolling on the floor in mirth.

“Just think of it,” she wheezed trying to get her breath back. “Chloe already has a matching costume and yo-yo!” 

Mari was staring in disbelief at Alya.

“And Ladybug is the only person that can sometimes make Chloe be nice.” 

Alya sat up wiping the tears that had rolled down her cheeks. A small smile began to turn one corner of Mari’s mouth toward the ceiling 

“And Chloe actually adores Ladybug. She’d probably get her father to outlaw akumas if they were too much for her girlfriend!”

Marinette had a full smile on her face.

“And poor Chat Noir would have to deal with two bickering Ladybugs trying to be the one in charge.”

A giggle slipped past Mari’s pursed lips. The image of a confused Chat trying to get his Lady’s attention over Chloe’s rants was, she had to admit, slightly funny.

“And to top it off she’d get Sabrina as a backup girlfriend!” Alya crowed and fell back to laughing.

Marinette joined her laughing on the chaise. The picture of Ladybug and Chloe trying to battle an akuma with Sabrina being told to do the Chloebug’s part of the work while Chat stands scratching his head in confusion was just too much.

 

Much later, after the laughter had subsided, and they could look at each other and not break into giggles, Mari had one final suggestion.

“You know Alya, if Ladybug couldn’t be with Adri… well you know who.”

“Voldemort? Never she needs a man with a nose.”

Mari rolled her eyes and tried again. “If Ladybug really wanted someone to be with then I’d have to say the perfect match for her would actually be you.”

Alya smiled. “Well if Chat Noir and Nino don’t mind sharing…”


	3. Cold War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Adrien contemplate the worst partners for Ladybug, if she totally wasn't with Chat.

Alya was waiting at the library table with her phone out as Adrien approached. Their history project had been postponed once again (Thank-you, Hawk-moth), but it had also had a few more requirements tacked on because they had more time to complete it (Thank YOU! Hawkmoth). Marinette had apparently gotten caught near today’s lunchtime akuma attack (No, really, THANK YOU, Hawkmoth), but she was ok (Thank you, LADYBUG!) so she was serving some detention time with Ms. Bustier. Adrien had been at a photoshoot all morning so he stayed late to pick up his missed assignments. He and Alya had planned to meet in the library and wait for Marinette before they all went over to Nino’s house to finish the project.

“What are you working on Al?” Adrien asked as he sat in the seat next to the obviously occupied girl.

“Oh, Hi Adrien,” Alya said as she looked briefly away from her phone. “I’m just editing some video for the Ladyblog.” Adrien looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. “One of the commentators claims that there is ‘NOTHING GOING ON BETWEEN LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR!’,” Alya made the air quotes with her fingers as she quietly “yelled” the part in all caps, “And I just want to present my evidence, so that they can see that there is totally something happening between those two.” There was something of an evil grin on her face as she continued. “Last night I went through all my footage, and now I’ve almost finished putting all the times when Chat Noir and Ladybug interact into one video, so all the visitors to my blog can see for themselves what I’ve seen all along.”

“Is that the user that is always talking about Chat Noir and how Ladybug would be nothing without him?” Adrien asked. The username seemed very familiar.

“That’s the one,” Alya nodded absently.

“The one that always goes on to every thread that praises Ladybug in order to point out what Chat Noir’s contributions to taking down the akuma were?”

“Yup.”

“That jerk really bugs me,” Adrien admitted. “I wish they’d grow up and stop being such an obnoxious twit.” 

Alya looked up sharply. “Adrien Agreste!” she exclaimed. “That is the first time I have ever heard you disapprove of someone.”  Adrien winced while mentally preparing to be told that it was not right to say such things. Instead she gave him a pat on the shoulder while saying, “I’m so proud of you! Maybe someday we can get you to say something unkind about Chloe, too, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.”

She thrust her phone under the bewildered nose of her companion and said simply, “Observe!”

Adrien watched as moment by moment the scenes and memories he had of being with Ladybug were seamlessly stitched together into one glorious tapestry.

“If you think this is good, just wait till Nino gets done with it,” Alya said as she watched Adrien’s face studying her masterpiece. “He says he has some music that will make this the romantic movie of the year.”

Adrien was still a little stunned. 

First not being told off for expressing an opinion and then seeing so much of his Lady smiling at him, well not at him him but still him. It was leaving the poor boy tongue tied and star struck.  

“Perfect,” he croaked out. He cleared his throat. “It’s amazing Alya!” he stopped to look at the smiling Ladybug with her adoring chaton again. “Really.” He should probably say more. “It doesn’t even need music.”

“True,” Alya agreed as she looked fondly at the film playing on her phone, “But Nino is really good, and it will be actually be perfect then. I’ll just send him this file, and it should be done by the time we get to his house.”

They both gazed at the phone for a few minutes more.

“They are so perfect for each other,” Alya sighed.

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed.

Suddenly Alya snorted.

“What’s up Al?” Adrien looked up from the phone. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I was just remembering something from the other day.” When Adrien just looked questioningly she continued. “Mari and I were discussing alternate matches for Ladybug and Mari nearly lost her mind when contemplating the Lady with Chloe.”

Adrien laughed. The idea that they had been thinking of other partners for his lady did not sit well with him, but the thought of Ladybug and Chloe teaming up was a little hilarious. He knew that Ladybug seemed to have a little grudge against his blonde haired friend. Suddenly he had an idea.

“Wouldn’t it be crazy if there was an akuma that could bond you to the person you dis-like most?” he asked. “ Like, maybe, someone in an unhappy relationship trying to destroy all the happy relationships around them gets akumatized.”

Alya frowned. “You mean, like Dark Cupid?”

“No, he made you hate people instead of loving them, this akuma would just put you with the person that you already dislike,” he paused then continued, “or put you with someone that dislikes you...Or maybe both?” He thought for a moment and added, “at least one of you despises the other and it’s a relationship of mutual misery.” He looked at Alya who nodded to show she understood. “Who do you think you would get stuck with?” he asked.

After a brief pause for thought the brunette said, “I’d rather not answer that.”

“Fair enough,” Adrien said. “What if Chat got hit? Who would he get put with?” he really wanted to know his friend’s opinion on it.

Alya thought for a moment then said with a grin, “Probably the mayor or…. The president of the anti-pun league.”

Adrien’s face fell, “Is there such a thing?” he asked slightly horrified.

“As the mayor? Yes we’ve met him before.” Alya laughed and added, “You’ve met him before!”

“Very funny Al, but you know what I meant.”

“Is there such a thing as the anti-pun league? No, I just made that up right now. It’s called using my imagination,” she teased and nudged him with her shoulder.

Adrien smiled. Sometimes he still wasn’t sure when she was serious or not.

“Well, what if Ladybug got hit? Who would she get put with?” he asked.

Alya didn’t even hesitate before saying, “Hawkmoth.”

They looked at each other with a growing sense of horror at her statement.

“No, no, no,” she said shaking her head. “I didn’t mean that!” she practically shouted earning them a nasty look from the librarian.

“That could never happen,” Adrien said in a strangled whisper, a strange urgency in his tone.

Alya grabbed his arm and tried to reassure him, “Chat Noir would cataclysm him so fast he’d never get to lay a finger on Ladybug.”

“I would kill him with my bare hands to stop that from happening,” he said in an icy voice that frankly scared Alya.

She gave a nervous little laugh. “Ok, that got... dark, so let’s pretend that never happened.” She looked at Adrien with concern written all over her face. “We are not even mentioning him any more today!” she said firmly.

Adrien had to try to shake the panic that had seized his heart. “Good.” He looked down, “I don’t think I can stand what would happen if that actually...”

“Agreed” Alya said quickly and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

They both took a moment to breathe and calm down.

“So,” Alya began, “this was supposed to be funny.” They both managed a weak smile before she went on. “Who do we know personally that would be a funny, miserable partner for Ladybug?”

“I know one person that wouldn’t want to be put with Ladybug,” Adrien volunteered. “Do you remember Lila?” Alya nodded. “Well Ladybug totally embarassed her in front of me one time,” Adrien grimaced at the memory. “She’s never talked about the Lady since then and kind of scowls when other people talk about her.”

“Yeah, Lila would totally be on team Anti-bug,” Alya agreed. “Oooh, speaking of which, what about Chloe? She actually turned into the opposite of Ladybug, right?”

“But that was when she was akumatized,” Adrien pointed out.” Before that Chloe was totally adoring her she would totally love to be with Ladybug.”

Alya shook her head and looked Adrien full in the face. “I know you sometimes are lousy at reading body language Adrien, but trust me on this, Ladybug does not really like Chloe. She tolerates her, sure, but Miss Queen Bee Chloe rubs the Bug the wrong way. She would totally be next in line on that list. But maybe not the worst possible candidate.”

Alya looked down as her phone gave a short buzz.

“Marinette, says she just left the classroom” Alya read out. “I guess we can get ready to go.” Another buzz caught her attention. “Oh, and Nino’s finished with the video. He’s uploading it right now.”

Adrien handed Alya her books as she packed up her bag and stowed her tablet.

“You know,” she said slowly, “there might be one more person that we know to put on that not a good fit for Ladybug list.”

Really?” he asked surprised. “Who?”

“Marinette!” she said as they both stood up. The sound of their chairs moving masking the sound of the library door opening.

“No way,” Adrien said shaking his head. “Marinette is so nice to everyone. She’s talented and caring and has a desire for justice to be done. And they’re both pretty and smart and strong.” He paused thinking of how the two girls matched so well. “Wouldn’t that make them like, super perfect partners?”

Alya smiled but started listing her reasoning as they moved toward the door. “But Mari doesn’t really seem to like Ladybug that much. Like, she doesn’t say she hates her, but whenever I’m doing things with the Ladyblog she doesn’t seem to care when it’s just about the Lady, but is totally fangirlish over anything with Chat Noir in it. She even started making Chat Noir beanies for Christmas gifts. Oh!” she grabbed Adrien’s arm, “Don’t tell her I told you that. Act surprised when you get it. You can act surprised can’t you?”

Adrien pulled back placed both hands on his heart while wearing an ‘O’ of surprise.

“Close enough, kid,” she said with a smile.

They both pull up short when they got to the door as the girl in question was standing stock still staring at her phone. Alya looked over her shoulder to see what she was fixated on.

“Oh, you’re watching our newest video!” she exclaimed delighted. “It’s perfect isn’t it?”

“Yeah, perfect” was the strangled answer.

“I’m glad you think so,” Alya said as she threw an arm around her friend and started to guide her out of the door that Adrien was holding open for them. “Let’s get going girl. Nino’s waiting for us.”

Mari seemed to be struggling for words. “It’s, it’s amazing Alya.” She paused then added, “Really.” She walked slowly with Alya keeping her eyes on it. “It doesn’t even need the music.”


End file.
